Spirituality Safe guarding the social and emotional life of man

[Sovereign]

What I share are my opinions of historical events which can be called into question, but it is the conclusion drawn from those moments which will explain to you the flow of reasoning in which I reside myself to. I care about social harmony in frank its all that I really mention with a pinch of truth and a dash of knowledge. I should however make it clear where I stand and where I would like to see the forum and even other forums at that head towards.

I have had a hard time socializing, though opportunity has allowed me to have certain experiences they do not last however, despite it all I'm alone. it wasn't however until I read on Confucius and Mencius and other Chinese philosophers that I began to change a tiny bit. I despise people, yet I think about them, I wish to be away from them and yet I move towards them closer and closer like a fly to flame. Its weird because the phenomena is recent maybe by a year or two, the influence to want friendship and kind is there but it is not strong; only enough to move towards people but not to have them within my personal space.

The heart of what I'm writing here is I feel naturally drawn to what Confucius wrote, but specifically what is mentioned in the movie regarding him. He cares for others, because he has an inclination to, he wants to be wise and virtuous and will not bend in order to appease others. Although I do not know the full story of Confucius I desire to be like him, but especially Mencius when he wrote "Benevolence & Righteousness and let those be your only themes", when I heard those words and that they were spoken to a king something in my heart shifted a desire to rip out that cold satanic parasite from my spirit and to replace it with genuine human decency in other words "I care because I want to be civil".

What rips me from that ideal is that I do not feel that I will ever obtain it, that I am too blackened and pathetic to ever measure up to Mencius or Confucius or even Xunzi who was another Confucian scholar. Yes, there is error in their works, and it is correct that they lived in an era which may very likely pushed them towards the subjects of their time because circumstance in their view required it. This site and its people are not Chinese nor do we share similar issues and circumstances, we do share however in suffering and its how we internalize that suffering which will allow us to find an answer. I have always heard it said that "Normies will never understand the issues of an inkwell", and it is true that unless you have an open mind you will not be capable of understanding the plight of another's situation unless you have been through it yourself because the feeling is always negatively intense and personal.

However despite all my laziness and set backs it has never left me completely or the desire for that. What enlightened my heard was that for the first time someone said that there was right and wrong and that it was possible to be moral and stay true to ones self in other words to be benevolent and righteous. So I am coming to the point of my message, I feel that my role in this life is to do exactly as the title says or written in another way "To safe guard mans emotional & social security", obviously it is not easy to do that one bit, because I am frankly socially inept, so if I was to do this it would have to be through either an indirect way or as a matter of policy; it could be as simple as sharing food or giving something without demand of compensation. I would like to add that yes there are evil, terrible and brutish people on this earth who don't care about your kindness or the human species at large. I understand this and recognize that you can't be kind to everyone because it is childishly unrealistic to do so, HOWEVER! It is possible to affect man that it will be permanent to his way of life because of what you have engrained into his psyche, material relationship or in his daily dealings.

 

[Sovereign]

Now I want to make a quick explanation of the stories of Mencius and Confucius. Confucius was called Kong chu or Kong Qiu which ever came first, Mencius is called Mengzi or Menki somewhere around those lines. Now Confucius story goes that as a kid when he played he would take toys of reference to ceremony and he had respect for his elders, Mencius came from an aristocratic clan that fell into obscurity who's mother in a famous story cut through cloth that she was making to show her son not to half way his studies. Now my point, when they became adults Confucius cared deeply for virtue and respected his fellow man, Mencius was upright and cared deeply about what was right. From them I learn that it is possible to be good without having to lower oneself to barbarism. Though Confucius never held an official title for long, nor did Mencius ever hold a official office what they left for the world was remarkable in that they show us it is possible yet difficult, hard and yet they survived. I'll give two examples:

King Hui of Liang​

When Mencius arrived at court, the king greeted him:
“Sir, you have come a thousand li. Surely you bring something to profit my state?”
Mencius replied calmly:
“Why speak of profit? I bring teachings of righteousness and benevolence.
If your majesty always asks: ‘How do I profit my state?’, ministers will ask: ‘How do I profit my family?’
The people will ask: ‘How do I profit myself?’
If everyone thinks only of profit, the realm will fall into chaos.”

The king was taken aback. Mencius’ message was clear: a ruler obsessed with personal gain ruins the moral order.

​

Analects 1:4 — Zengzi’s Three Daily Self-Examinations​

曾子曰：「吾日三省吾身：
為人謀而不忠乎？
與朋友交而不信乎？
傳不習乎？」

Zengzi said: “Each day I examine myself on three matters:
Have I been loyal in my efforts for others?
Have I been trustworthy in my dealings with friends?
Have I failed to practice what has been passed on to me?”

So how can we take what they wrote and see if its relevant in our lives? In frank, I do not know, but if I had to take a shot in the dark it can be as simple as not stepping on a snail when you know its in front of you, when you know you can lie but choose not to, last but not least when you look in the mirror you are honest with yourself.